Moonlight
by Cookiie Monstaa
Summary: Sakura is the nature lover, the all-Japanese beauty who can't understand why she's so drawn to distant, brooding Sasuke. Adopted as a young child, she has no way of knowing that she's inherited a terrifying-and thrilling-gene that will change her life
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Moonlight washed over us, washed over Sasuke and me.

A hushed silence permeated the forest. Giant trees surrounded us. Their rustling leaves whispered warnings in the warm breeze of the summer night. But we ignored them. We cared only about one another.

He was much taller than I was, and I had to bend my head back to gaze into his onyx eyes. They were hypnotic, which should have calmed my racing heart but instead only made it speed up. Or maybe it was the nearness of his lips that sent my heart into a chaotic rhythm.

He took a step closer and I retreated, but a tree stopped me from going as far away as I wanted. Was I ready for this? Was I ready for a kiss that would change my life? I knew that if he kissed me I'd never be the same again. That _we_ would never be the same. That was our relationship would shift-

My mind stuttered with the enormity of such a simple word. _Shift_. It meant more to me now-now that I would shift-

Sasuke was suddenly nearer. I hadn't seen the movement. He was just there. He could move that quickly. My knees grew weak, and I was grateful that I had a sturdy tree to lean on against. He lifted his arm and pressed his forearm against the bark over my head as though he, too, needed some sort of support. The action brought him even closer. I felt the welcoming heat of his body reaching out to mine. Under normal circumstances he would have drawn me in for a comforting snuggle, but nothing about tonight was normal.

He was beautiful in the moonlight. Gorgeous, really. His soft, gravity-defying hair-a dark shade of black, with a little dark blue around the tips thrown in for good measure-stuck up in the back with bangs framing his face. I had this reckless urge to touch it, to touch him

But I knew any movement on my part would be a signal to him, a signal that I was ready. And I wasn't. I didn't want what he was offering. Not tonight. Maybe not ever.

What was I afraid of? It was only a kiss. I'd kiss other guys. I'd kissed Sasuke.

So why did the thought of a kiss from Sasuke tonight terrify me? The answer was simple: I knew this kiss would bind us together forever.

His fingers gently brushed my hair back from my brow. He'd once told me the shade of it reminded him of a cherry blossom tree. He thought of everything in terms related to nature. It didn't suit him with his solitary ways.

Why was he so patient why didn't he push? Did he feel it, too? Did he understand how momentous it would be if-

He dipped his head down. I didn't move. I barely breathed. In spite of all my reservations, I desired this. I craved it. But I still fought against it.

His lips were almost touching mine. Almost.

"Sakura," he murmured invitingly, and his warm breath caressed my cheek. "It's time."

Tears stung my eyes. I shook my head, refusing to acknowledge the truth of his words. "I'm not ready."

I heard an ominous, throaty growl in the distance. He stiffened. I knew he'd heard it, too. He shoved away from me and glanced over his shoulder. That's when I saw them: a dozen wolves restlessly prowling the perimeter of the clearing.

Sasuke looked back at me, disappointment reflected in his onyx eyes. "Then pick another. But you can't go through it alone."

He turned his back on me and began striding with purpose toward the wolves.

"Wait!" I screamed after him.

But it was too late.

He started discarding his clothes with each quickening step. Then he was running. He leaped into the air-

By the time he hit the ground, he was a wolf. He'd transformed in the shimmering wink of time from boy to beat. He was as beautiful in wolf form as in human form.

He threw back his head and howled at the moon, the harbinger of change, the bringer of destiny. The anguished sound reverberated through me, called to me. I wrestled against answering, but the wildness that resided deep inside me was too strong, too determined to have its way.

I started running toward him. . . .

It was difficult to believe that less than two weeks ago, I was laughing and mocking the idea of werewolves actually existing.

And now I, Sakura Haruno, was about to become one.


	2. Less Than Two Weeks Earlier

_Chapter 1: Less than two weeks earlier. . ._

Fear. It was living, breathing thing that resided inside me. Sometimes I could feel it prowling around, striving to break free. It journeyed with me now as Ino and I stalked through the national forest's dense thicket near midnight. But I'd become pretty good at hiding the panic. I didn't want Ino to think she'd made a mistake when she'd convinced me to work as a wilderness guide with her during the summer. I figured I could learn a few tricks from her about battling my inner demons. She took the meaning of adventuresome to a whole new level.

But still, coming alone to a place where wild things looked for tasty snacks was insane. It was even crazier that we hadn't told anyone. We'd kept quiet because leaving the barracks once the lights were out was reason for dismissal. After surviving a week of intensive training, I definitely didn't want to get fired the night before my first assignment.

I tightened my fingers around my weapon-a Maglite. My adoptive dad is a cop who taught me, like, a hundred ways to kill a man using a flashlight. Okay, so I'm prone to exaggeration, but still, he'd shown me a few self-defense moves.

Off to the side where the trees and brush were thickest, I heard a rustling noise.

"Shhh! Wait up. What was that?" I whispered harshly, Ino scanned her flashlight between the trees and into the darkness of the canopy of leaves above. While there was a crescent moon tonight, its light couldn't penetrate the thickness of the trees here. "What was _what?_" My flashlight beam hit her as I swung it around. She flinched and held up a hand to protect her eyes from the harsh light. Her silky, platinum-blonde hair reflected the light and appeared magical. She reminded me of a whimsical fairy, but I knew her delicate features hid an inner strength. She'd been featured in the local paper because she'd save a child from a cougar attack by putting herself between the animal and the child and yelling at it until it ran off.

"I thought I heard something." I told her.

"Like what?"

"I don't know." My heart thudding, I glanced around again. I loved the outdoors. But tonight, being out here gave me the creeps. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched or having a _Blair Witch Project_ moment.

"Like footsteps?" Ino asked.

"Not really. Not like a person makes. More a soft plodding, like walking in your socks-or on paws maybe."

Ino slung her easily around my slender shoulder. She was a little taller than I was, and her muscles were firm from all the hiking and rock climbing she did. We'd a 9 years ago in the summer when I'd come camping with my parents. Ino had been one tourist. We'd connected and became fast friends, keeping in touch over the school year.

"We're not being followed," Ino assured me. "Everyone was asleep when we left our cabin."

"What if it's some kind of predator?" This fear I was experiencing didn't make sense. But I knew I'd hear something, and I knew it wasn't friendly. I couldn't explain how I knew-just a sixth sense sort of thing.

Lindsey's laughter echoed through the trees.

"I'm serious. What about that cougar you chased off last summer?" I asked.

"What about him?"

"What if he's out for revenge?"

"Then he'll eat me, not you. Unless he's just hungry, then he'll eat whoever runs the slowest."

_Which would be me_, I thought. I wasn't exactly athletically challenged, but I wasn't _American Gladiators_, material either.

I took a deep breath and listened intently. The woods were eerily quiet. Didn't they go silent when danger was near? "Maybe we should head back."

We were about a mile from the village that was at the entrance to the park. Ino and I shared a small cabin with Ten-Ten, another guide. Once lights were out at eleven, no one was supposed to leave the cabin.

Now Ino imitated the sound of a chicken. "_Bawk, Bawk!"_

"Very funny, what if we get fired?" I asked.

"We'll only get fired if we get caught. Come on."

"What exactly is it that you want to show me?" All she'd told me was that she wanted to share "something intense" with me. It had been enough to make me curious, but that was when we were in the safety of the village.

"Look, Sakura, if you're going to be a Sherpa, you have to connect with your inner adventure girl. Trust me. What I'm about to show you is well worth the risk of losing job, life, or limb."

"Wow, really?" Was she dodging my question? It sure seemed like it. I glanced around suspiciously. "Is the male of the species involved?" Because honestly, that's the only thing I considered worth the danger.

Ino sighed impatiently. "You're hopeless. Let's go."

Since I didn't want to be left alone, I fell into step beside her. As far as I was concerned, my caution was well earned. When I was five, my mom and dad were killed in these very woods. My adoptive parents had brought me here last summer to help get over the trauma, which was probably a few years too late to really do any good. We'd camped here for nearly a week. I'd had an amazing time, but I wasn't sure how effective the experience had been in helping me to get over my "issues."

Yeah, supposedly I had emotional problems. So I was in therapy, spending a wasted hour each week with shrink named (Ka-Zi-Yah), who Yoda-like pronouncements-_face your fears, you must-_irritated more than helped me. Truly, I would have rather spent time with a dentist.

Maybe I was only kidding myself to think that I was brave enough to face the elements of the wild, day after day. Although what was I really afraid of? It wasn't even an animal that had attacked my parents. They'd been shot by two beer-guzzling hunters-in the woods illegally-who had stupidly mistaken them for wolves.

Thanks to those hunters, snarling, growling wolves regularly inhabited my dreams, resulting in many restless nights and frequent bouts of screaming in my sleep, hence the therapy to get at the root of my nightmares. theorized that it was my subconscious trying to justify how two idiots could have shot my parents and then, with straight faces, tell authorities, "They were wolves. Swear to God, they were. They were gonna eat that little girl." That little girl, of course, had been me. Everything that had happened on that long-ago afternoon was a blur. Everything except my parents lying dead on the forest floor.

God, how could they mistake people for wolves?

Behind me, brush crackled. I paused mid-step. The hairs on my nape prickled. I slid my hand beneath the curtain of my pink hair and rubbed my neck. A shiver went through me and goose bumps erupted over my arms. I had a feeling that if I turned around. I'd see whatever it was. Did I want to face it?

Ino tromped back. "What's wrong now?"

"Something's watching," I whispered. "I can feel it." Ino didn't blow me off this time. She glanced around. "Could be an owl checking out a tasty morsel-or that late-night snack scampering away."

"Maybe, but it feels more sinister."

"Growing up down the road, I've spent most of my life in these woods. There's nothing sinister out here."

"What about the cougar?"

"That was way deep in the wilderness. We're still practically in civilization here. In a few areas you can still get cell phone reception." She tugged my hand. "A hundred steps and we'll be there." I followed, but stayed alert. There was _something._ I was certain of it. Not an owl or a rodent. Not anything _in_ the trees. Not anything tiny. Something that stalked its prey.

A shudder rippled through me. _Prey?_ Why had I thought that? But it was true. It was what I felt. Something was watching and waiting. But watching _whom_ exactly? And waiting for _what?_

How many steps were left? Forty? It had been so stupid to come out without even telling anyone. My parents were going to kill me if they ever found out. I'd promised to be responsible. It was my first time away from them, and my adoptive mom had lectured me ad nauseam about being careful.

Up ahead, brightness through the foliage caught my attention. What's that?"

"What I wanted to show you."


End file.
